


People Crying Every Night

by eccentrick



Series: Tumblr Prompts [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Soft Lancelot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 00:58:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13135821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eccentrick/pseuds/eccentrick
Summary: Tumblr request: "it's okay to cry" for LancelotLotor finally grieves.





	People Crying Every Night

**Author's Note:**

> Title from People Crying Every Night by ARIZONA. 
> 
> Enjoy and happy holidays!

Lotor doesn’t show much of himself, Lance has noticed. Ever since he saved everyone from being turned into space dust and reluctantly joined Team Voltron, he’s kept himself at a distance. He plays a part, just like Lance plays a part. The Charming Prince and the Jester are a strange match. 

Lance tries to hate him for awhile. At first, Lance cannot discern the man from the mask. Honestly, he’s a little disappointed in himself, not being able to recognize someone who dons an ego to keep others from looking too closely. But then Lotor is seemingly everywhere, his smile becoming less and less plastic as time goes on. 

He’s still not sure what they are. He’s afraid to ask. But he’s not surprised when there’s a knock, futile as it is, and the door opens. 

Lance is still awake, Pidge’s headphones in his lap and his eyes closed. He tries to get rid of most of his thoughts before bed, so sleep is less inclined to evade him. And, thanks to Lotor, it’s much harder to push them down. Still, he’s almost relieved to see him. 

“Hey, hey, Princely,” Lance greets. He smiles softly, not his usual flirty grin. It falls when he sees the total absence of bravado from Lotor; he seems pretty comfortable with him, but it takes a little bit for Lotor’s walls to lower enough that Lance can breach them. 

Lotor says nothing. This is very, very concerning. Lotor is nothing if not sassy and sarcastic. On normal days, he’d greet Lance with a nickname himself. Instead, he settles on the very edge of Lance’s mattress, hands folded in his lap. 

Lance scoots closer to him, hovering between getting closer and staying away. They’re close, but Lance still feels unsure when it comes to what he should do. Lotor has never let himself look this upset around him. It’s sort of scary to see someone so composed look so…decidedly uncomposed.

“What wrong?” he asks, worry coloring his tone. 

“Oh, nothing,” is the reply he gets. The tone is clipped and speaks of barely concealed distress. 

Lance scoffs, deciding to sit closer. The bed creaks and squeaks as he scoots next to Lotor, and he doesn’t even comment on how unsophisticated the Castleship’s amenities are. 

“Well,” he begins cautious, “It sure doesn’t look like ‘nothing’.”

Lotor sighs like he’s been put out, hands tightening around each other. 

“It is Narti’s day of birth. Or, it once was.”

Lance sits in shock. He’s not the type to be very consoling; he just never seems to hit the right notes and pause enough for effect. So, he just says nothing, waiting for Lotor to continue. He doesn’t think the Prince has ever really had someone that will listen without conflict of interest. 

His strategy works. Lotor continues, “I regret what I had to do, but I do not regret my actions. Had I not struck her down, the others and I would have perished.” Lotor takes a shaky breath. “I do not fault the others for betraying my trust, because there wasn’t any to begin with, it appears. But I regret the memories that include her, and the ghastly light that has been shed on them.” 

Lance leans his head on Lotor’s shoulders. He can think of a million different things he can say, all ringing hollow and shallow. Things that wouldn’t help him if it was directed at him. So he tells Lotor what he himself would want to hear. 

“It’s okay to cry.”

Lotor jerks his head up, almost hitting his in the process, eyes wide and suspiciously wet. Lance doesn’t pretend not to see them, because he wants Lotor to know they’re nothing to be ashamed of. He suspects that being raised by emotionally barren tyrants could skew a person’s self perception. 

Eyes lock eyes. “It’s okay to cry,” he repeats. 

It’s that second sentence that breaks the metaphoric dam. Lotor grips Lance tightly, face buried in his neck. His skin quickly dampens, wet from unseen tears. But just because they’re unseen doesn’t mean they’re any less important. 

A ghost of an apology whispers against his neck, but Lance shushes it away. No one should apologize for grief. War has taught him that.

He holds Lotor until his tears run dry.

**Author's Note:**

> Requests can be sent to my Voltron tumblr: lo-tor


End file.
